Sunday, 29 April 2012

Consumed –
Hunger is the Best Seasoning

You
were born knowing exactly how much to eat. Hunger is your body’s way of telling
you that you need fuel. By reconnecting with your instinctive signals, you can
reach and maintain a healthier weight without restrictive dieting and obsessing
over every bite of food you put in your mouth.

Perhaps
you’ve ignored hunger for so long that you’ve forgotten how to recognize it.
Maybe you even blame hunger for your weight problem and see it as the enemy.
Perhaps you confuse hunger with all the other reasons you eat, like mealtime,
boredom, stress or tasty food.

At the
same time, you may have learned to ignore the feeling of satisfaction so you
eat until you’re stuffed and very uncomfortable. Perhaps you “clean your
plate,” “never waste food,” and “eat all your dinner if you want dessert,”
instead of stopping when you’ve had enough. And you’ll perpetuate this cycle if
you teach your children the same things.

Reconnecting
with your hunger signals helps you reach a healthier weight. Here’s how:
• You’ll eat less food when you’re eating to satisfy physical hunger than if
you eat to satisfy other needs. Think about it. If you aren’t hungry when you
start eating, how do you know when to stop? When the food is gone of course!

•
You’re more likely to choose foods that nourish you. If you aren’t hungry but
you’re eating because you are sad, mad or glad, what kinds of foods do you
want? That’s when you’re more likely to want chocolate, cookies, chips, or
other snacks and comfort foods.

• Food
actually tastes better when you’re physically hungry. Hunger really is the best
seasoning—so you eat less but enjoy it more.

•
You’ll feel more satisfied because food is great for reducing hunger but not so
great for reducing boredom, stress or other triggers.

•
You’ll notice you’re hungry before you get too hungry and decreases overeating!

Trust
Your Gut Instincts

To
break out of the pattern of eating on autopilot, get in the habit of asking
yourself, “Am I hungry?” every time you feel like eating. This simple but
powerful question will help you recognize the difference between an urge to eat
caused by the physical need for food from an urge to eat caused by head hunger.

Look
for symptoms like hunger pangs, gnawing, growling, emptiness, low energy,
shakiness, or headache. Notice that hunger is physical. It’s not a craving, a
thought or a temptation. By focusing on hunger as your guide, you can become
your own internal expert about when, what and how much to eat.

Food
for Thought

• What
specific signs of hunger do you usually have?

• What
other thoughts and feelings do you confuse with hunger at times?

• What
else could you do besides eat when you feel like eating even though you’re not
hungry?